Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis
Eric Paglia
A podcast on the Arctic and Antarctica that applies the lens of geopolitics to analyze a wide range of critical issues pertaining to the polar regions and international affairs. In interviews with leading experts, recurring topics include Greenland, the Arctic Council, climate change, critical raw materials, the Antarctic Treaty System, hybrid warfare, science diplomacy, great power competition between the United States, China and Russia, sustainable development, Svalbard, NATO, Arctic shipping, Alaska, AI, technology and critical infrastructure, the Baltic Sea, military and national security, energy, the role of indigenous peoples in Arctic governance, and more. Polar Geopolitics is hosted by Dr. Eric Paglia, a podcast producer and environmental historian at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 7, 2018 • 20min
The Geopolitics of Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark: Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen pt. 2
The economic development and political evolution of Greenland, whether remaining within the Kingdom of Denmark or eventually as an entirely independent country, is an ongoing process and open question of enormous consequence for the geopolitics of the greater Arctic. In the second part of the interview with the Polar Geopolitics podcast, Dr. Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, an international relations scholar and expert on Danish-Greenlandic politics, shares his insights on the dynamics and future prospects of this critical relationship, as well as the roles played by China and the United States in influencing developments in the resource-rich and strategically-located largest island in the world.
Jun 21, 2018 • 22min
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen pt. 1: Arctic governance and the A5 ten years after Ilulissat
Representatives of Arctic governments recently returned to Greenland to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2008 meeting in Ilulissat—the somewhat controversial gathering of the so-called “A5” Arctic Ocean littoral states that left other regional actors feeling excluded. In the first of a two-part interview, Associate Prof. Jon Rahbek-Clemmesen of the Royal Danish Defence College, who co-authored a report on the Ilulissat Initiative, shares his insights into contemporary Arctic governance and the inconspicuous yet enduring relevance of the A5, ten years after the Ilulissat Declaration.
Jun 13, 2018 • 35min
Klaus Dodds pt. 2: UK Arctic Policy, Arctic Council and potential British Antarctic strategy
In this second part of his interview with Polar Geopolitics, Prof. Klaus Dodds discusses the recently-updated British Arctic policy Beyond the Ice: UK policy towards the Arctic; elaborates on relations with Russian in the context of Arctic politics; shares his outlook on the Arctic Council’s role in upholding the liberal international order; and considers the possibility of Great Britain eventually publishing a strategy for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
May 23, 2018 • 22min
Klaus Dodds pt. 1: Geopolitics, Ross Sea MPA, and CAO fisheries moratorium
In the inaugural episode of the podcast, Klaus Dodds, political geographer and Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London, explains the ways in which the geopolitics of the polar regions are distinct from other parts of the globe. The discussion with Prof. Dodds further includes two recent cases of marine spatial planning—the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, and the fisheries moratorium in the Central Arctic Ocean—that illustrate some of the major themes of the Polar Geopolitics podcast, i.e. the intersection of environmental protection, economic exploitation, science diplomacy and international relations in the polar regions.
The discussion in this episode is inspired by the article Antarctic Geopolitics and the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area by Klaus Dodds and Cassandra Brooks.
